


All For Love

by Kireii-yume (kireii_yume)



Series: Kireii-Yume Does Cliche'd Fics! [2]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Medieval, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, M/M, Sort of Cliche
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-13
Updated: 2017-02-23
Packaged: 2018-09-17 04:43:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,390
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9304769
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kireii_yume/pseuds/Kireii-yume
Summary: While being courted by Crown Prince Lance of the Kingdom of Lions, Princess Allura of Altea is kidnapped. Lance, along with Keith, the Red Knight, must save her...and it promises to be an adventure.





	1. A Hopeful Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> Hi all! This was inspired by this prompt: A story about a valiant prince and his knight who go to rescue a princess and end up getting really close and falling in love along the way. Add in a little enemies-to-lovers and we can add this to my cliche'd fic collection! Hope you enjoy!

In one hour, the whole kingdom had been sent into disarray. 

Princess Allura was on a ride, being courted by Prince Lance, the successor to the Kingdom of Lions, many miles away. Keith, the Red Knight of Lions and one of Lance’s bitterest rivals, had come with as a guard, to ensure the safety of both. It was a midday ride, so Coran, Allura’s guardian, had assumed that it would be fairly safe for everyone involved. They were at the crest of a beautiful hill, and Lance and Allura had stopped briefly. But suddenly, men in dark cloaks rode up and grabbed Allura off her horse. Immediately, Keith jumped into the fray, taking down a few of the men, ordering Lance to run back for help. Lance, who was unarmed, declined, and the two argued for a moment before Lance finally left, accepting that it would be the best way to save Allura. But when they returned, Keith had been knocked off his horse, sprawling unconscious on the ground. He was an incredible knight and held his own for a good while, but eventually sheer numbers overwhelmed him. Miraculously, he sustained no serious injuries, simply a cut on his left hand and a few very shallow cuts on his face, but there was absolutely no sign of Allura when Lance came back with more knights.

So Lance sat, fearing how he’d explain to Coran what happened to his ward and worrying about whether Allura was alright. But as Coran walked into Lance’s quarters, the look on his face told Lance that he didn’t need to say anything.

“So she’s gone.”

“Coran…”

“I know. I don’t blame you. None of us thought this’d happen. I hope your knight is alright.” Lance sighed, wishing that he’d gotten to be the hero instead of Keith. Keith always stole his thunder, and Lance was surprised that he’d gotten to court Allura, with how the ladies usually fell over themselves for Keith. Sure, he wouldn’t be happy if Keith died, but he did wish that someone would focus on him for once. 

“Keith’s fine, he woke up a little bit ago. The physician said he’d be fine for duty tomorrow. He’s going to come with me.” 

“Are you returning home already?” Coran asked, a touch of bitterness in his tone. But Lance shook his head vehemently. 

“No, no, not for a while. We’re going after Allura.”

“You don’t know where she is!” Mustache bristling with excitement and agitation, Coran paced around the room. 

“I’ll find her. We can find her. Keith’s not a bad tracker, I guess. And we can ask around. Most villagers love her…it wouldn’t be hard to find out who might have taken her.” At that sentence, Coran’s expression darkened. He stared out into the courtyard, his teeth gritted. 

“I know who would hate her.”

“Well, who!?” Lance exclaimed impatiently, leaping off the chair he sat on and running over to Coran. “That’d make this a lot easier!” 

“Zarkon,” Coran breathed. 

“Who?”

“He’s a villain determined to take over this peaceful kingdom. Princess Allura is just about the only thing in his way, so I’m not surprised that he would want to kidnap her.” Lance’s face hardened.

“Where can I find him?”

“Ask any villager. They can direct you to his castle. It’s north from here, through the woods, so be careful. Thieves and bandits live there.”

“No thief or bandit can injure the mighty Prince Lance! I’ll go get Keith and we’ll be off as soon as we can!” And without waiting to listen to any more objections from Coran, Lance sprinted from the room.

\-----  
“You do realize that this isn’t as simple as it seems, right?” Keith asked as he shrugged on the last of his armor. Lance raised his eyebrows, clearing his throat and giving Keith a meaningful look. “ _My lord,_ ” he added icily. Though he knew it was proper decorum for a guard to address a prince with respect, Keith had no respect for Lance. He wasn’t inheriting the kingdom yet and as such didn’t take much seriously. Though Keith had only been his guard for a week and a half, he felt like he’d gotten to know Lance more than well enough. Why Shiro, the guardmaster, had assigned him to Lance, no one knew. But for now, he had to deal with the consequences. 

“I’m not an idiot,” Lance replied with a glare, adjusting his horse’s saddle. “Let’s just go, we need to get there before they can do anything to Allura.” Keith mounted his horse and nodded. 

“Lead the way.” Lance took a deep breath and gently spurred his horse toward the forest. But a few miles later, it became apparent that they had a problem. The forest was incredibly dense, and it stretched so far that going around it would be impractical. There was no way the horses would be able to make it through without getting hurt. “We’ll have to go on foot. The horses will know to go back to the castle,” he declared, dismounting his horse. “We can’t afford the delay of taking them back.” Keith nodded, following suit. Immediately the horses galloped back in the direction of the castle. 

“Can’t help but wonder if they’d have run off anyway,” Keith muttered, looking at their eagerness. The horses were borrowed from Coran, and neither of them had seemed particularly excited about the mission. Perhaps they would be better off without horses that could abandon them at any given moment. Lance shrugged. 

“We’ll figure it out. Let’s go. It’ll be an adventure!” 

“It’ll be something…” Keith murmured as he started to hack at the bushes and branches to make a path for Lance. And with that, their quest had begun.


	2. Pidge

As Keith and Lance walked through the forest, a palpable silence stretched between them. Neither of them were particularly inclined to speak with each other, but they also didn’t feel like walking in silence for the entire journey either. So, eventually, Lance spoke up. “Um, what did you do? Before being a guard?” 

“Why does my past matter?” Keith asked, his voice a touch snippy. Lance immediately remembered why he hadn’t bothered to speak to him before.

“Alright, alright, calm down. Aren’t guards supposed to be noble and patient?” That earned Lance a glare from Keith.

“Aren’t princes supposed to be dignified and regal, not trying to woo every girl in sight?” 

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were the prince, the way you think the world’s supposed to be all about you!” Keith’s glare intensified, looking like he was ready to kill his own charge. 

“Really? You, of all people, calling me self-centered?” 

“You could at least show me _some_ respect! I am the prince!” Lance hated pulling rank, hated saying that because of his birth, he was superior to others. The only person he did that to was Keith, and that was limited to insisting that he address him properly. But in this case, Lance felt like it was more than warranted. 

“I’ll show you respect when you do _anything_ at all to show me you deserve it!” 

“Oh, you little…” Keith slapped a hand over Lance’s mouth, muffling the rest of his sentence. “What gives you the right to…”

“Shut up!” Keith hissed. 

“I don’t have to do…”

“You don’t have to but I’d suggest it! Someone’s here.” At that Lance did, in fact, stop talking, and in the absence of their argument they could both hear rustling in the bushes to their left. The noise was increasing by the minute. Keith slowly nudged Lance behind him, drawing his sword with one hand and ensuring that Lance stayed away from the source of the noise with the other. For a moment, everything seemed still. But as something emerged that looked like a person, Keith pinned it against a massive tree with lightning speed. “What do you want?” he hissed, pressing his sword against the person’s throat. 

“Let me go, let me go, let me go!” The person was seemingly a younger boy—his voice didn’t sound like it had fully matured. He was garbed in a hooded cloak and dark clothing, and large round glasses were quickly slipping down his nose as he flailed against Keith’s grip. “Let me go! I’m not trying to hurt you! I need your help!” 

“Wait, why do you need our help?” Lance asked, moving forward. 

“Stay back…my lord.” Keith grudgingly added the term of respect to appease Lance, to get him to be more likely to obey. Despite that, Lance took a couple more steps forward, peering around at the person pinned to the tree. 

“Let me down…all I have is a few throwing knives, they’re on the right side of my belt, take them if you want! I just need protection!”

“From what?” This boy had piqued Lance’s interest—he was fully disobeying Keith’s orders and peering over his shoulder, where anything could injure him.

“It’s a long story…”

“At least tell us your name,” Lance requested. 

“Call me Pidge.”

“Okay, Pidge, how do we know we can trust you?” Silence stretched through the forest.

“You don’t. You don’t, okay? I can’t prove any of that! But I can’t tell you who I am, probably for the same reason why you’re not telling me who you are! I can’t trust you either!”

“Are you really the one in a position to argue?” Keith inquired icily, his sword still at Pidge’s throat. Pidge shrugged as much as he could. 

“What else can I do? I can’t exactly move.”

“He has a point,” Lance supplemented. 

“I’m just trying to do my job. He’s a potential threat, I’m stopping him from being a threat.” However, something made both Keith and Pidge freeze. 

“They found me…” Pidge breathed. Bushes started to dance back and forth in the forest, and trees began to rustle.

“Who?” The tone of Keith’s voice made the question feel more like an order.

“Let me down. You’re not going to survive if I’m not down here.” Something in Pidge’s voice persuaded Keith, and he tentatively loosed Pidge, keeping an eye on him while keeping Lance out of his range. Pidge took out one of his knives and gripped the hilt as tightly as he could. He stood stock still for a moment, then he whipped around and threw the knife at the top of one of the trees. A body toppled from the tree, its bones crunching with the impact of the fall, blood quickly soaking its clothes. Lance fought back his gag reflex, determined to not vomit in front of Keith, but his attention was quickly taken away from nausea. More figures leapt from the forest with frightening speed, flying at Keith and Pidge. Pidge loosed more throwing knives, each one finding a mark, but the horde of people was preventing him from grabbing those he’d thrown. Keith was doing his best to fight off everyone he could, but every now and then something would sneak through. A knife blade here, a sword there. Blood seeped from cuts, yet Keith continued. In that moment, Lance realized very suddenly that, despite his dislike, Keith would die for him. It wasn’t due to any feelings or personal attachment, but he was duty-bound to give his life for a prince he hated. And that prince was standing around doing nothing. 

Well, that would change.

Lance ran around the horde of people, toward the first corpse. The blood mingling with other miscellaneous gore sent up a rotting smell already, and Lance gagged as he turned the body over. There were no weapons on the belt…but on the back, there was a bow and a quiver of arrows. It would have to do. He grabbed both and rolled to the side just in time to avoid a sword cut. Ordinarily the shock would have paralyzed him, but the adrenaline kept him going long enough to nock an arrow. He hadn’t practiced archery in a while, but the enemies were close and he didn’t have to be too accurate. Just accurate enough to slow them down. His muscles quivered as he held the taut bowstring in place, just long enough to aim, and after he loosed it he heard a scream. It had directly pierced an enemy’s stomach. Another arrow later and another enemy was gone. Keith stared over at him in bewilderment, stunned for a moment, not noticing the enemy behind him. However, Pidge shoved him out of the way and took out the man himself with his last knife. The incident served as enough of a wake-up call to get Keith back in the fight.

Everything on Lance’s body seemed to burn. His lungs were screaming for air, his muscles begged for a reprieve, but he had to keep going or they’d all die. Arrow after arrow, death scream after death scream. One or two missed, but the vast majority met their mark. He had to push the reality that he was ending the lives of dozens out of his mind, had to ignore the smell and the blood and everything around him to simply continue. “MOVE!” Pidge shouted, and Lance lunged to the side. Something scraped his side, likely a thrown knife blade. Blood started to ooze out of the cut, but all things considered it was relatively minor, nothing that could keep Lance from fighting. His fingers were bleeding where the bowstring occasionally scraped them, and he had a large welt on his wrist from the string hitting it on occasion. All in all, it was excruciating. But this was life or death. There was no time for complaints. If he kept going, it would be over.

Soon enough, silence fell, almost more unnerving than the screams. The trail’s dirt was smeared with blood and other substances that Lance didn’t want to even think of, and none of them were unscathed. Blood ran down a cut on the side of Pidge’s face and his leg, and Keith sported numerous scrapes. However, nothing was serious—everyone could walk, and the cuts were nothing that a light rinse with water wouldn’t fix. They had miraculously escaped with their lives. 

“Are you okay?” Keith asked Lance, anxiety permeating his voice.

“Yeah,” Lance replied, trying not to shake. Every inch of his body felt like gelatin, barely able to support him. He knew his skin was quickly losing color. But for a first battle, it wasn’t bad. Though he’d been trained in the use of weapons, his kingdom was anything but war-torn, and the only assassination attempt hadn’t required any of his intervention; a personal guard took out the offending lawbreaker, far from Lance’s gaze. Though Keith looked skeptical, a cursory glance showed no serious injuries, and Keith contented himself with that for the time being.

“So, I guess I should thank you,” Keith told Pidge, his tone slightly warmer. At least he knew that if death was Pidge’s motive, that motive could have easily been fulfilled already. If all Pidge wanted was Lance’s head, he could have gotten it and more by now. 

“Same to you, they sent more than I expected,” Pidge murmured, staring into the forest worriedly. “I don’t know where I would have been if I hadn’t run into you two. Can I…ask your names?” 

“Lance.” Keith shot him a look, showing that he wasn’t comfortable with that information being divulged, but after a moment Keith gave his own name as well, figuring that the more recognizable one in their party had already betrayed any cover they may have had. 

“I’m guessing we’re still keeping backstory quiet for now, huh? Fair enough,” Pidge shrugged. “Can I at least ask where you’re going?”

“Through the forest,” Keith said shortly. “North.” Pidge nodded.

“I’m headed there too. Trying to reach a castle in that direction. Mind me coming with?” Keith stood in silence, staring at Pidge. “I’ll stay in front of both of you so I can’t stab your back,” he sighed. “And I have my own business, so once we get through this forest I’ll leave. But I know my way around here, and it’ll be a bit easier for you two with a guide.” 

“Sounds good,” Lance told him, exhaustion permeating his voice. Keith gave him another concerned look, but Lance waved him off. “Just the adrenaline wearing off.” 

“You shouldn’t have put yourself in danger like that!” Keith lectured. 

“We all could have died! I’m not just going to sit around and let everyone else risk their lives for me! I’m not useless, I was trained, and I can use weapons. Like it or not, we’re in this together at this point, so I guess you’re going to have to let me not be a coddled little…” A small glare from Keith reminded Lance that he was staying too much. “Anyway, I’m going to do something. I have to learn at some point.” Keith’s jaw clenched, but eventually he nodded. “Let’s keep moving. It’s going to be dark soon.” Pidge started forward, and Lance walked next to Keith, as he’d been taught to do with bodyguards since he was young. 

After a few minutes, Pidge and Keith seemed normal, but Lance’s exhaustion was only increasing, as was his shakiness. Every part of his body felt weak, and every step felt like slogging through mud. The wound on his side throbbed more and more by the moment, and everything felt wrong. Was this what warriors endured after every battle? He had infinitely more respect for Keith; though he was arrogant and distrustful and cynical about everything, he was loyal to his job and was strong. Lance had to give him that. And if Keith was that strong, he could be too. Keith wasn’t superhuman. It could be done.

However, about a mile later, Lance’s vision started to blur and his head started to spin. The world was going blank. “Lance? Lance!” Keith’s voice was right next to him, and Lance felt hands prodding his body insistently. One hit the wound on his side, which was only becoming more painful by the minute, and Lance groaned feebly. He’d likely have shouted, but a groan was all he could manage. “What’s wrong with him?” Silence.

“Shit.” Pidge’s voice. “Do you think that was an arrow wound?” 

“Looks like it.” Keith’s voice was sounding further and further away, like it came to him through a long, echoing corridor. “Wait…could it have been…”

“I think the arrow must have been poisoned.” A few swear words floated through Lance’s consciousness. He couldn’t identify where they were from, and they were getting more and more distant. “I know a place. We have to get him there.” 

“How do I know if I can trust you?!”

“You have to or he’ll die!” 

“Fine.” Something in Keith’s voice struck Lance, but it couldn’t be processed well in his current state. That last word echoed through Lance’s head on repeat as everything faded away. There was no sound, no sight, no touch. Just unconsciousness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you all enjoyed! Be sure to check out my [ blog ](http://kireii-yume.tumblr.com) and request stuff from me or just talk to me! I love hearing from you!


	3. Hunk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you all enjoy the entrance of Hunk!! He's a fave of mine <3

“We have to get him to safety,” Keith insisted, scooping Lance’s unconscious form into his arms. “How fast can we get out of this forest?” Pidge shook his head.

“Not fast enough. I know a place inside the forest. We have to go there. It’s the only way we’ll save him.” Silence stretched for a second as Keith glared at Pidge.

“How do you know I can trust you?” he demanded. With a sigh, Pidge answered.

“You don’t. But you have two options here. You wander around in this forest, lost, and get Lance killed, or you come with me and have a chance of getting him killed. But trust me, I want out of this forest too. I know a healer, he has a hut that shouldn’t be too far from here. If we hurry we’ll get him there in time.” Realizing the truth in Pidge’s statement, Keith nodded, and Pidge sprinted off down a well-hidden trail. Keith tried his best to follow, but the forest wasn’t well lit on a good day, and clouds were already blocking out the sun. On top of that, Keith had Lance to deal with, who wasn’t heavy but also was a lot more weight than Keith was used to. 

“Slow down! I have to be able to follow!” Keith yelled as he almost slipped. Pidge stopped. 

“Right, sorry. I…kinda forget. Been on my own a while now.” The two advanced at a steady jog.

“How much do you know about those people, or at least their poison?” 

“They’re a band of thieves who take on assassination jobs. Cross them and they’ll kill you the minute you step foot in the forest, if you’re not fast enough.”

“I take it you crossed them.”

“You asked about the poison,” Pidge told him, steadfastly ignoring the assumption. “I haven’t seen it used much. Obviously I’ve never had it used on me. I just know that all their arrows are poisoned. My friend knows how to get rid of it. I helped him develop an antidote, but it only works because of him. I’d never be able to do it myself, all I did was tell him the theory behind it.” 

“Why does this friend live in the middle of the woods?” Rain started to patter down, sluggishly dripping from the tops of trees and landing, uncomfortably cold, on the little exposed skin that showed around Keith’s mail armor, making him shiver. “Seems inconvenient.”

“You’ll see when we meet him. Almost there.” The cryptic nature of Pidge’s response did little to assure Keith, but he was desperate, more so than normal. Lance used to be just a charge, and an annoying one at that. Well, he still was plenty annoying, Keith reflected, but that was tempered by what he’d just done. Instead of just letting everyone protect him, he’d helped. Risked his life, likely for Keith and Pidge. Lance liked to show off, but he knew they needed him for the kingdom, so Keith would never have expected him to risk his life. Maybe he was more than just a snobby prince, and as much as he hated to admit it, he was impressed by Lance’s display. It ignited a curiosity within him at least. So Lance had to survive. For duty…and because he wasn’t a horrible person all the time. “You should see it soon. Look for some yellow lights.”

“Like fire?” Keith asked, but it was clear enough once they broke into a clearing. Bright yellow lights floated around a small hut, illuminating the area around it with a sunny glow, heedless of the gloom and rain around them. They seemed to respond to the visitors; a few of them changed their path so they could come toward Pidge, and when a couple came close to Keith, he noticed a lack of the warmth that he expected. In fact, he couldn’t tell where the light was coming from at all—it just _was_. It made the beaten-up, ramshackle hut almost look beautiful. 

Pidge ignored the lights and rapped on the door sharply. “Hunk!” he yelled over the rain. “Get out here, I need your antidote!” The door swung open with an urgency that almost ripped it off its hinges. 

“What happened? Are you okay? How’d they get you?” A large, heavyset, tanned man stood in the doorway, looking Pidge over with wild concern. “Wait. You’re fine. Who’s hurt?” 

“I found these guys in the woods. Lance is hurt.” The man nodded, his face set. 

“Alright. Get him in here and I’ll see what I can do.” Keith took Lance into the hut. “You can set him down on the table over there and I’ll get to work.” The hut was surprisingly warm, both in temperature and in atmosphere. It didn’t look like a hut in the middle of the woods—in fact, it looked like a home. It was one large room, with another small room attached to the side. Both were well-lit by what looked like oil lamps, and rows of beds stretched across the larger room. Keith moved over to the operating table that Hunk had gestured to, and set Lance down as gently as he could. “What happened? Where is the cut? How long has it been?” 

“Lance took an arrow to his right hip, and it’s been maybe forty five minutes. Not too long but long enough for him to faint,” Pidge informed. Keith simply stood, awkwardly, surveying the scene before him. The hut was crammed full of shelves as well, all full of different books, plants, and miscellaneous reagents. Some looked completely eerie; Keith hadn’t seen anything like it.

“Um…I’m not trying to be rude, but…why are you here in the middle of the woods?” Keith asked as Hunk started pulling a few things off shelves. Hunk shrugged in response.

“I’ve been working on magic, but I can’t use it for defense or anything. And the people in my hometown only want battle mages. They’re all scared of healing mages, y’know? They think we’re alchemists or that we’re plotting something. Can’t believe anyone would use magic just to help.” Keith nodded. The attitude was a familiar one. All children were told tales of scary mages making malevolent poisons and disguising them as healing draughts. It had stemmed from one mage who decided to use his powers to disguise poison as a medicine, and he’d nearly wiped out a whole town in the process. Ever since, any mage whose powers weren’t used for offense or defense were forbidden from practicing their craft. Besides, with the volatility of the world, any person who couldn’t fight was useless, and healers who used traditional means were easier to monitor, easier to trust. Frankly, Keith saw the virtue in this paranoia, but Pidge was right; he didn’t have a choice. “I know there are some bad people out there,” Hunk continued. “But I didn’t wanna give it up. I like helping people and I want to use my magic for good. Can’t really use it to hurt people, it just never worked that way, I guess. They say magic works with the person. Guess I’m not a violent person.

“Anyway, this doesn’t look bad at all. He’s just gotta get this down his throat, and I can stitch the cut, and he’ll be just fine.” Visibly relaxing, Keith breathed a sigh of relief. With practiced movements, Hunk eased the antidote down Lance’s throat, and started sealing the wound. 

“Can I…um…repay you?” Keith asked awkwardly. Hunk shook his head. 

“I don’t need any money. I just live out here. So don’t worry about it. This is what I love doing, really.” 

“Huh.”

“Hey, stop,” Pidge demanded, glaring at the skeptical look on Keith’s face. “Hunk’s a great guy. Gotten me out of more scrapes than you could ever know.” Keith put his hands up defensively.

“I’m not in a position to criticize,” he reminded. “By the way…I’m Keith.” Hunk nodded, putting the name with the face. “And Pidge already mentioned Lance. Thanks for saving him.” 

“Really, it’s what I do. He should wake up in a little bit, but for now, you mind telling me just what happened?” 

Pidge related the story of what had happened, how they’d met, and the tiny bit of Keith and Lance’s backstory he had, which was essentially nothing. “We’re all heading north.” Hunk shook his head as he worked on a few other vials.

“Dude, that’s a pretty bad place. What could you want to do up there?” Keith instinctively felt suspicion, but realized that their destination couldn’t really be used against them.

“Lance has a mission involving Zarkon’s empire.” At the word ‘Zarkon,’ Pidge whipped his head around so fast that Keith could have sworn he’d get whiplash. 

“Are you friends of Zarkon?” Hunk asked, his voice low and menacing. 

“Of course not. We’re on a rescue mission. That’s all the information you’re getting.” 

“Well, I’m coming with,” Pidge demanded. 

“Why?” Keith asked incredulously. 

“I have… _business_ with Zarkon. That’s all the information you’re getting.” Frowning at the mimicry, Keith thought about the...offer, if it could even be called that. Their mission wasn’t exactly stealthy, so Pidge knowing wouldn’t be inherently horrible. But could they really be trusted? What if they got to Zarkon and Pidge handed them over? Or what if Pidge killed Lance in his sleep? There were too many risks…but Keith realized how outnumbered he and Lance were. Two people couldn’t infiltrate a castle, and that was a fact, especially with Lance’s minimal combat training. He was great with a bow, but that couldn’t do everything. They’d need help. And right now, even as cryptic as Pidge was, he looked like the best option. 

“Me too,” Hunk declared. “I want peace here. Zarkon’s the reason that I have to live in a forest. His soldiers help the fear of people like me keep going. They do horrible things and keep away the people who do good things. I’m not gonna spend my life like this. And if I’m gonna leave here and still heal, I’ve gotta do something. Show the world that mages who don’t like to hurt are still worth something.” He took a deep, shaky breath, trying to keep himself from getting overly emotional. “I’m not the best at using my magic for hurting, but I might be able to if I practice hard enough. And I can heal. If any of you get hurt. I’m gonna come with.”

“This isn’t exactly a mission by invitation,” Keith objected. 

“Listen.” Hunk’s face was deadly serious. “I don’t know either of you too well, but you’re good guys. I just know. So I’m not a fan of you going to die. Zarkon’s army’s huge. It’s not something two can deal with. Heck, even four of us are probably gonna die. But we’re doubling your chances.”

“Zero times two is still zero,” Pidge muttered, but Hunk ignored him. 

“I’m not gonna say we’re your only chance, but we’re gonna help. Both of us want what you do.” Keith sighed again. 

“I’ll talk to Lance once he’s conscious, but he’s too trusting for his own good. I’m guessing he’d be all for it. So, anything I should know about what we’re going up against?” But before anyone could really elaborate, a groan emanated from the operating table. 

“Okay, let me just make sure everything else is fine,” Hunk said, moving over to Lance. “Hey, how are you feeling, Lance?” Lance dazedly looked at Hunk.

“Who are you? Where’s Keith?” he slurred slightly, his voice sounding weak and tired. 

“I’m right here,” Keith reassured from behind Hunk. “Pidge showed us the way to a healer. How are you feeling?”

“Not as bad as before. My side hurts, but not like it did. I’m pretty fine.” He made a move to sit up, but Hunk grabbed him off the table and lifted him to one of the beds instead. 

“Wait dude, you need to rest for a while. Sounds like you have a pretty urgent mission, but stay here, at least tonight. All of you. Then we’ll leave in the morning.” 

“We?” Lance asked.

“They’re coming with us, if it’s okay…” Keith mouthed ‘my lord’ at Lance, so he wouldn’t object to the lack of an address, giving away their identity.

“The more the merrier,” Lance chuckled, seeming more awake. 

“Great! I’ll go get you guys some food, you have to be starving! Pidge, wanna come with me?” Pidge nodded, and he and Hunk left the hut. Awkward silence stretched for just a second before Keith decided to speak up.

“That was…brave. What you did. Stupid, reckless, but brave.” Lance shrugged.

“I’m not just gonna let you die for me while I stand there. This is my mission. I should pull my weight.” 

“I respect that,” Keith replied. 

“That’s a first.” At first, Keith bristled, but Lance’s smile told him that it wasn’t meant to be malicious. “Oh, and it’s stupid to have you call me my lord, especially when they don’t know who I am. So…just call me Lance.” Keith nodded, smiling slightly. Neither of them were quite comfortable with each other yet. But this could work.

**Author's Note:**

> Be sure to check out my [blog](http://kireii-yume.tumblr.com)! I take requests for fics and headcanons there, and I post personal ramblings as well!


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